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Penske Racing adds Ryan Blaney for partial Nationwide schedule

July 16, 2012

Ryan Blaney will make his Nationwide Series debut for Penske Racing on Aug. 4 at Iowa. Photo by LAT Photographic

With the future of A.J. Allmendinger unclear and the possibility of Sam Hornish Jr. going full-time Sprint Cup racing again next year, Penske Racing has hired Ryan Blaney to drive one of its Dodges in select Nationwide Series races.

Hornish Jr. is full-time in Nationwide but also has driven Allmendinger's Cup car during his suspension for failing a drug test. If Allmendinger fails his backup test and is indefinitely suspended from NASCAR, it's expected that Hornish Jr. will stay in his Cup car the rest of this year and next year as well. That would leave his full-time Nationwide ride available, and Blaney's hiring on Tuesday appears to get him at the head of the line for that ride.

The 18-year-old son of Cup driver Dave Blaney will debut for Penske Racing in the Aug. 4 Nationwide race at Iowa Speedway. He'll also be in the No. 22 Dodge Challenger for the Sept. 7 race at Richmond International Raceway and for the Sept. 22 race at Kentucky Speedway. Penske Racing is running the No. 22 car in a handful of Nationwide races this year with full-time Cup driver Brad Keselowski.

“Ryan is a driver with a great racing pedigree and we believe he has a very bright future in NASCAR,” Penske Racing president said Tim Cindric said in a statement. “We've been keeping an eye on Ryan's development and we feel he'll be a great addition to the No. 22 Nationwide Series team.”

Blaney has come through the ranks: Quarter-Midgets, Bandolero and Legends cars, Super Late Models, the ARCA Series and the NASCAR K&N Pro Series. He's made three Nationwide starts this season for Tommy Baldwin Racing, his best being a seventh-place at Richmond in April.

“I'm very excited about the opportunity to drive for Penske Racing for the rest of this season,” Blaney said. ”With the team's strong tradition of success and the winning program they've established in the Nationwide Series, I believe I can learn a lot and hopefully we can produce some strong finishes in the No. 22 car.”